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Matt Mathews
Matt Mathews (born Dylan Matthews, December 19, 1969) is an American professional wrestler currently working in the Universal Wrestling League where he is the current reigning World Champion. He also wrestles in Jeremey Sterling's Samurai's Sword promotion, which is based out of Japan. = Pre-Wrestling = As a child Mathews never had dreams of becoming a wrestler. It wasn't until he was 19, a sophomore attending Plymouth State University. He majored in Psychology; however he never put the degree to use. He spent five years training and went from weight roughly 150 pounds to about 220 in a matter of years. Matt's growth was recognized however he never opted to wrestling in school. He would not step into a ring until he was 28, almost a decade later. = Career = Early Career Mathews entered wrestling at the age of 28. In an interview from 2006 he commented that he was about 10 years older than most of the "kids" in the federation, and that the closest person to him was 26. Mathews saw limited success, his character was over well with the fans however his in-ring abilities were lacking. For a few years he struggled and wrestled in several federations in New England. At the age of 31 he was laid out with a shoulder injury. After a successful recovery, Mathews returned to the ring at the age of 33, now looking stronger than ever. He dyed his hair black and introduced the New England Indies to his real-life and on-screen girlfriend, Kayla Stone. For a time Matt played the part of an intimidating good guy and wrestled under his real name, Dylan Matthews. At this point Matt weighed about 290 and he had a lot of muscle mass. Still he saw minimal success and he was side-lined again, this time for a minor injury that would keep him out for three months. Breaking Out: Late 2004 - Slamtime Wrestling Corporation After returning from a minor jaw injury Mathews landed a deal with Slametime Wrestling Corporation. He had dyed his hair back to it's original dark brown and changed his look. Overnight Mathews took on the look of a high-profile superstar. His weight also dropped to about 280, but he was still considered a "big man" for the time being. Mathews went into SWC alone, as the owners did not feel Stone would draw and wasn't worth the money. Mathews wrestled on the debut show of SWC, loosing an eight-man scramble match for the vacant Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Tim Harrison. Mathews would then enter his most memorable feud to date with then high-profile star, The Phenomenal Blu. The two put one some amazing matches and thus began the start of Mathews' un-pinned streak. The feud ended after Mathews soundly defeated Blu in a No Holds Barred-Fans Bring the Weapons Match. It was after this, that Mathews began to develop his character more into the one he uses today. He started bragging about ending Blu's career (who in reality, wanted a quiet retirement) and he adoped the "Career Killer" nickname in addition to the "Hollywood" one he had already adopted. 2005 -> 2006 Slamtime Wrestling Corporation With Blu out of the way Mathews finally earned his one-on-one with Tim Harrison for the SWC Championship. Over the next few weeks, Mathews bloodied The Egyptian Dream backstage, putting him in the hospital. He also beat Attik in a Hardcore Match, subsequently ending his career as well. (in reality SWC was doing roster cuts and both men needed to be written off TV) Mathews had now taken three names and had momentum going into his match with Harrison. When the night came Mathews ultimately won and he became the second ever SWC Heavyweight Champion. Tim Harrison decided to retire after his loss to Mathews, further Mathews' nickname as the "Career Killer." After winning the belt, Kayla Stone was reintroduced as Mathews' valet. However as it would hold, SWC folded no more than a month later, thus Mathews held the belt until the end, yet he never had a single defense. Tough Enough Wrestling Mathews soon found himself with a contract offer from TEW, a neighboring federation to the SWC. Mathews signed on the condition that Kayla Stone be given a manager deal, which TEW management accepted. Mathews immediately entered a SWC vs TEW Feud which, shockingly, saw Team SWC come out on top. Mathews was able to maintain his un-pinned record, however he lost a Battle Royal, a few Tag Matches (he wasn't pinned) and even a few matches via DQ during this time. Mathews slowly worked his way up and eventually earned a TEW Title shot against then Champion, Rob Hero. However, The Phenomenal Blu made his shocking return to wrestling after only a brief retirement. The feud with Mathews reignited until TEW ultimately folded. Blu won the Championship on the last show in a Triple Threat Match by pinning Rob Hero. Slamtime Wrestling Corporation II In this time, Andrew Fyre, better known as "Inferno" purchased the assets to the SWC. He started the federation up once more and declared every Championship vacant. Mathews immediately resigned along with Kayla Stone. (by this point, his fiancé) Mathews would go on to complain, stating he was truly the SWC Champion because he held the belt last. This caught the attention of Blu, who also resigned to SWC, and former Champion Tim Harrison. For the opening show Fyre decided to book a Cage Warfare Match between the three competitors. Mathews came out on top with assistance from Stone to capture his second SWC Championship, however he was side-lined for two weeks due to injuries from the match. (kayfabe) Soon Mathews starting meeting challangers from all over the SWC, Rick Claderaz, Chris Cage and Pat Doyle to name a few. The number-one contender however remained Blu, but he was mysteriously taken out backstage and was subsequently out of action for months. (in reality, this was his true retirement) It was revealed to be Mathews who attacked Blu. As punishment, Fyre booked a five man "Junkyard" Match for the SWC Championship. Mathews would defend his belt against Cage, Calderaz, Doyle, Harrison and Kurt Noble. However, before the match Mathews jumped Cage and he was replaced by Christian Kane. The match never aired live, because, like the past, the SWC was folding. The show still occurred and saw Pat Doyle win the belt by pinning Kane. American Wrestling Federation This federation was short-lived, however Mathews joined it in late 2005 while competing with TEW. Mathews won the first and only AWF Heavyweight Championship Tournament by defeating Pat Doyle in the finals. The company foldeda week later, and Mathews remains the only AWF Champion, ever. Ultimate Vendetta Wrestling Shortly after the SWC's second fold, SWC Champion Pat Doyle opened up the UVW. Any SWC stars who wanted contracts were given them, and this included Matt Mathews. By this point, Mathews had dropped the "Career Killer" and he was developing a more egocentric and cynical character. He began to flaunt his intelligence and mentally mess with his opponents, something that could be credited to his legitimate degree in Psychology. He demanded a rematch with Pat Doyle for the SWC Championship, to which Doyle agreed. Mathews won the belt back and turned his sights to the UVW Championship. Mathews managed to retain his unpinned status during this time while suffering minor losses now and again by other means. Soon he was entered into the first ever Melee Cage Warfare, featuring himself, Chris Cage, UWL Champion Rick Calderaz, Rob Hero and Mike Shea. It was in this time Mathews established his rivalry with Chris Cage. Mathews won the match, and was immediately named not only UVW Champion, but then SWC-UVW Undisputed Champion as well. Like with the past however, the UVW folded weeks later. A joke was soon made that when Mathews wins a Championship, the federation shuts down. Mid-2006 -> 2007 NWA: Grind After taking a good number of months off Mathews came to Chris Cage's NWA: Grind federation. The company, like others, heavily consisted of past SWC/UVW stars, but it also featured many rising ones. Mathews quickly found himself in a feud with Christian Kane. The two warred for weeks until The Phenomenal Blu, once again, returned from retirement. On the debut of the Hollywood Hot-Seat, Blu was Mathews' guest. Kane however stormed the ring and the world was stunned to see Blu attack Kane. It was revealed that Mathews asked Blu to come out of retirement and the Alliance from Hell was created. Kane had been booked to face Mathews the next week in the Grind Heavyweight Title Tournament. However he could not compete and Cage, determined to end the Alliance, booked Blu as Mathews' opponent. They met in a Lead Pipe on a Pole Match which saw Mathews the victor. Mathews went on to a 5-Man King of the Mountain Match which saw Rick Claderaz succesfully retain his title. In the next weeks, Mathews would earn another shot at Rick in a Full Metal Mayhem Match. However, another rising star, Delikado decided to get in on the fun. For two weeks he kidnapped and kept Kayla Stone away from ringside. This caused Mathews to lose on the second week to Delikado via pinfall for the first time in over a year. As a reward for pinning Mathews, Delikado was added to the Full Metal Mayhem Match. Still he continued to mess with Kayla Stone and Mathews had him thrown in jail. Kayla Stone then disappeared from T.V. in what was a safety issue. (In reality her and Mathews were married his time off and she was pregnant) Delikado did not make it to the Full Metal Mayhem Match and Mathews defeated Calderaz to capture the Grind Heavyweight Championship. As luck would have it... the company folded two weeks later. Deluxe Pro Wrestling A week after suffering his first pinfall loss Mathews decided to branch out. He secured a contract with DPW. There he saw immediate success, defeating several opponents, and losing a few matches. He began to gun after DPW World Champion, Diana Waters but came up short on each instance due to interferences. DPW took some time to close for a week, but Mathews never went back when it re-opened for unknown reasons. Kingdom of Pride KoP was owned by Jeremy Sterling and many of Mathews' old rivals were there. He secured a contract and began a feud with Andrew Fyre. This would become Mathews' second bloodiest feud to date and Andrew's family was even thrown into the mix. The two were set to end the feud in a Blood, Pride, Death Match (a match of Mathews' own design) but the PPV was inexplicably canceled. The match never took place and Mathews soon quit KoP due to issues with management. During this time Mathews debut a new look. He dyed his hair a lighter shade of brown and streaked it with auburn highlights. In addition, he also began to feather his hair, though he claims it’s actually naturally feathered. He also dropped a lot of weight and the people saw a leaner looking Mathews. Universal Wrestling League After taking even more time off, Mathews found himself with a contract in the renown UWL. He met success almost immediately, defeating seasoned veterans Ryan Helms, Ace Styles and Ryan Murphy. Soon after he entered a feud with Clint Waters. After a few brawls and a match at Nightmare II, Mathews vanquished his opponent and set himself up for an even brighter future. Mathews earned a slot in a Battle Royal for the newly created UWL Television Championship but lost in the end to Adam Houston. As luck would have it, the following week would established Mathews into the ongoing New Generation/Old Guard Feud. Mathews challenged Shawn Stevens for the UWL World Heavyweight Championship and lost after refusing to tap out. Mathews went on to complain about be screwed and subsequently was revealed to be the New Generation's third man alongside Jason Hunt and then-Heritage Champion Brad Hunter. As luck would hold, Adam Houston joined their ranks to take on the Old Guard. However, going into the next DVD Taping Mathews would take on Julian Cutlass, whom he subsequently beat. The feud finally escalated when Flap Flanagan and the returning Flying Diamond Cutter Man joined up with The Best Team Eva. After 2 Man Amry won the UWL Tag Team Championship from BTE, Mathews was named Champion as well, as the New Generation declared they'd be defending the belts under the Freebird Rule. On November 28th, Jason Hunt shocking announced his departure from UWL. It is speculated that Mathews will officially take his place as half of the Tag Champions. On December 1st Mathews contacted UWL and told them he had relieved Mark DuBrow of his services, this is expected to be adressed at the December 4th TV tapings. At Final Countdown 2007 Mathews defeated Josh Eagles to capture his first singles title with the company. SPEAR Wrestling Syndicate After spending a little over two months in UWL Mathews joined SPEAR, a company founded by Josh Eagles, who had purchased Power On Wrestling. Mathews quickly formed a team with Mark Moltres called Incandesence and they defeated Omega Storm and Scott Lanagen to become the first ever SWS Tag Team Champions. Moltres and Mathews have a stressed relationship, but they have shown to be a very formidable duo. Incandesence was set to defend their belts against The Black Legion at November Pain, but the Black Legion never showed. Subsequently, Incandesence were nammed the winners by forfeit. The following week on December 6th Mathews got one of his biggest wins in recent history by defeating David Hunter after conneting with the Wake-Up Call. At December for Remembrance, Incandescence lost the Tag Championship to The Dan and Chaz Leland when Mathews hit Moltres with a huge Spinebuster. Later that night he defeated The Dan to win the SWS Valor Championship, surprisingly with help from his former partner. 2008 -> Current Universal Wrestling League Mathews rung in the new year by defeating Jack Cassidy on January 2nd. At Access Denied III the New Generation lost a War Games Match to the Old Guard when Houston tapped to Eagles. After the match, Matt stopped an attack from Houston on Brad Hunter, but he himself turned on Hunter a few moments later. On January 17th Mathews defeated Vincent Varillion to unify the Heritage and Television Championships. On February 9th at Grand Voyage Matt was one of four men competing in, "Ultimate Endurance" a Fatal-Four Way Elimination Match also involving Mark Faith, Brad Hunter and UWL Champion Shawn Stevens. Matt lost the Heritage Championship early on when Mark Faith pinned and eliminated Shawn Stevens, however Matt went on to win the World Championship by pinning Brad Hunter for the third and final fall. On February 14th, before making his victory speech, Mathews announced that his tag partner for the UWL Coronation Tag Cup would be none other than Mark Moltres. It was also during this time, Mathews began to fully develop a new personality; he's become even more arrogant and has - on numerous occasions - called himself a "God". His appearance also changed in turn, though not drastically. Two weeks prior at UWL's 100th Show, Mathews defeated the returning Jason Hunt in singles competition. The following week, he and Mark Moltres picked up a win against The Baseball Furies in the first week of the Coronation Tag Cup. Mathews went on to have a successful title defense against Brad Hunter in a Steel Cage Match at UWL's 100th Show. A week later the team of Incandescence defeated Big Ci and Kailus Holmes to score another win in the Coronation Tag Cup. This week they will take on The Best Team Eva in the third round, and the week after Matt will meet Jack Cassidy at Battle of the Bluegrass in what will be his second World Title defense. Over the next two weeks, Incandescecne would lose once to Team UFP, but defeat Twitch and Eddy to tie up Block A in the Coronation Tag Cup with 8 points for themselves, however in the end in Icandescence lost along with UFP to the Best Team Eva, who would go along to win the Coronation Cup in the finals. A week later Mathews bid farewell to Mark Moltres and went to focus once more on his singles career. At the first ever Pay-Per-View event for the UWL (Exceeding Expectations) Matt defended his title against Jason Hunt with some suprise assistance from Brad Hunter. Afterwards, he was challanged by Flap Flanagan to put the belt on the line. Matt was forced into the match but managed to walk out with the belt after making Flap tap out to a Triangle Choke. SPEAR Wrestling Syndicate On January 4th Mathews successfully defended his belt for the first time when he defeated Keiji Inoki in a Hardcore Match after connecting with the seldom seen, Mathews Moonsault. It also solidified Mathews decision to defend the belt under Hardcore Rules rather than Pure Rules. A week after defeating Zeke Inferno in a Hardcore Match, Matt went on to January Mayhem to successfully defend his belt against Charles Anthony. A week later Kayla Stone was reintroduced to the wrestling world. She made her SPEAR debut a week later in a losing effort to Lindsey Daniels, however this was a ploy that lead to Mathews brutally assaulting both Daniels and Elisse Gairden post match. The next week, Mathews would team up with David Hunter to take on Flap Flanagan and Lindsey Daniels in a "Winners Take All" Match, where both Flap's North American Championship and Mathews' Valor Championship were on the line. Mathews and Hunter won, and as a result, Mathews retained. The next week Mathews defended his belt against Lindsey Daniels once more in a one on one Hardcore Match and successfully retained. Mathews was eliminated in the first round of the Realize Your Dream tournament by David Hunter. Two weeks later Matt dropped Kayla Stone with a Hollywood-Hangover before defeating Alexander Savage. The following week at March Realization Matt defended his belt against Johnny Slayer with some unintentional help from his former valet. Later that evening, Matt was eliminated in the 10-Man North American Championship Number One Contenders Match thanks to the combined efforts of Slayer and Stone. The following week in a Triple Threat Match, both Mathews and Slayer covered Thaurer and we thus named Co-Champions. The three men were set to face off at Traumatizaion in a Triple Threat rematch, however the show has since passed and results are unknown to the public due to Spear's sudden close. Samurai's Sword Professional Wrestling When the announcemnet came that SPEAR was closing Mathews wasted no time and signed with Jaeremy Sterling's SSPW promotion based out of Japan. Mathews made a successful debut by defeating "Bad-Ass" Bill. After solidifying an alliance with old rival Phenomenal Blu, Mathews went on to defeat Blood Pump to secure a spot in a Four Corners Match to determine the Samurai Champion. = In Wrestling = *'Finishing Moves' :*'The (Hollywood-)Hangover / Omniscient Overdrive' (Top-Rope Cutter) (2006-Current) :*'Special Treatment' (Modified Reverse STO) (2005-Current) :*The Career Killer (Rolling Cutter) (2004-2006) :*Plastic Surgery (Double-Underhook DDT) (2006) :*Wake-Up Call (Modified Go 2 Sleep) (2007-2008) :*'The Insuperable Lock' (Inverted Indian Deathlock) (Current) *''Signiture''/Regular Moves :*''The Mathews Moonsault'' :*Powerbomb into the Turnbuckle :*''Spike Piledriver'' :*''Various Neckbreakers'' ::*Swinging Neckbreaker ::*Running Neckbreaker ::*Stalled Neckbreaker ::*3/4ths Neckbreaker ::*Jumping Neckbreaker ::*Rolling Neckbreaker :*Facebuster Flapjack :*Triangle Choke Hold :*''Spear'' :*''"Arn Anderson" Spinebuster'' :*Arm bar :*Double-Hook DDT :*''Vertibreaker'' :*STF Hold :*German Suplex :*Belly-to-Back Suplex :*Gutwrench Suplex :*Vertical Suplex :*Stalled Vertical Suplex :*Illegal Chokes *'Managers' :*Kayla Stone (Early - April 2007, February 2008 - March 2008) :*Mark DuBrow (October 2007 - December 2007) *'Nicknames' :*The Career Killer :*The Presence of Perfection :*The Lord of Luxury :*The Embodiment of Excellence :*The Allah of Arrogance :*The Brains of the New Generation :*'The Lord of Light' :*'Perfection Manifest' *'Theme Music' :*"Find the Real" by Alterbridge (2004-2005) :*"One Day Remains" by Alterbridge (2005) :*"Daze of the Weak" by Fozzy (2006) :*'"Enemy" by Fozzy (2006-Current)' :*"The Enemy" by Godsmack (2007-2008) :*"The Lord of Light" by Iron Maiden (Current) The Matt Mathews Curse There is joke amongst some wrestlers (primarily those who worked with Mathews in SWC, UVW and Grind) that whenever Mathews wins a company's top title, it immediately folds one to four weeks later. This has held true in the past as it's happened in the following situations: *SWC folded twice after Mathews won the belt. (The first time took two weeks, the second roughly a month) *AWF folded a week after Mathews won the belt. *UVW folded two weeks after Mathews won the belt. *Grind folded a week after Mathews won the belt. (In his defense however, the show where he won was planned as the final show, as management knew the company was about to fold) It's not that Mathews couldn't draw a crowd, it's just bad circumstances. People would flock to arenas just to see him lose the belt; the problem was the companies were always in trouble prior to Mathews being booked to win. Some speculate that Mathews would be booked to win in an attempt to save the company (shows where Mathews defended the title had high attendance records in the past). Bad luck or not however, the pattern has been evident over recent years. Breaking Kayfabe One thing that has become synonymous with the Matt Mathews character over recent years is his willingness to break kayfabe. This is usually done for storyline purposes, such as calling Andrew "Inferno" Fyre by his real name to make the feud seem more personal. Other instances includes mentioning Chris Cage's real life daughter during promos despite the fact his character is single or mentioning Kayla Stone (his on-screen girlfriend) as his wife. In a recent example he talked about playing the face in a match against super heel David Hunter. Both men were heels at the time; however Mathews made a joke about playing the face this match because he was hated less. In the past he has also cut "worked-shoots" on how management works in certain companies. (such examples include DPW and UWL) Probably the most notable instance of breaking kayfabe was the weak after he captured the SWC Championship for the second time. He came to the ring and talked about everything he does is for the fans, which is the opposite from his character. He then thanked the fans and apologized that he would be sidelined for a few weeks with a legitimate injury. Management was not happy with Mathews' decision to cut the promo, but he didn't face any sort of punishment and has yet to for breaking kayfabe. Blood, Pride, Death Match Mathews is often credited for creating the Blood, Pride, Death Match. Essentially, the match is Three Stages of Hell but it does not follow the standard 2 out of 3 falls rules. Rather, in order to win you must complete a series of objectives in a certain order. First you must bloody your opponent (Blood), then make him submit (Pride) and finally, pin them and have them stay down for a 10-count. (Death) The match is essentially, the embodiment of the First Blood, Submission Only, and Texas Death Match matches. It is stressed that each goal must be met in order. If Wrestler A were to make Wrestler B tap out before making him bleed, then the "Pride" condition will not have been met yet. To-date, this match has never actually taken place. Mathews was set to take on Andrew Fyre for the first ever Blood, Pride, Death Match. The event however was canceled and Mathews quit the company when the match was never re-scheduled. = Championships and Accomplishments = *'American Wrestling Federation' :*AWF Heavyweight Championship (first and only) :*2005 AWF Championship Tourament Winner *'NWA: Grind' :*Grind Heavyweight Championship (final) *'Slamtime Wrestling Corporation' :*SWC Heavyweight Championship x2 *'SPEAR Wrestling Syndicate' :*SWS Valor Championship (current) :*SWS Tag Team Championship w/ Mark Moltres *'Ultimate Vendetta Wrestling' :*SWC Heavyweight Championship (final - unified with the UVW Championship) :*UVW Heavyweight Championship (final - unified with the SWC Championship) :*SWC-UVW Undisputed Championship (first and only) *'Universal Wrestling League' :*UWL World Heavyweight Championship ''(current) :*UWL Heritage Championship :*UWL Television Championship (final - unified with the Heritage Championship) :*UWL Tag Team Championship (recognized under the Freebird Rule) w/ The New Generation :*Third winner of the UWL Big Three = Personal Life = Mathews is the second of four children to Lance and Marissa. He attended Plymouth State University where he recieved a degree in Psychologoy. Mathews is married to his on-screen girlfriend, Kayla Stone, who's real name is now Samantha Matthews. The two have a son togeather, named Bruce. Kayla hasn't been seen on TV with Mathews since her silent departure from Grind; the two have expressed interest in moving near Knoxville to be closer to the UWL Arena. If this were to happen, chances are Kayla could make a TV return to UWL. Mathews has two tattoos on his forearms which he's never been able to describe, due to the generic apperance of them. He also has a band tattoo on his shoulder that's often unreadable, however he's said in an interview that is says "Samantha Thomas", Kayla's real-life name before they got marreid. When asked why he spells his surname differantly for his "stage name" he replied that it was a typo on his application when he joined the Slamtime Wrestling Corporation. However, nobody in middle-management caught the error and so his contract came up with his name spelled "Mathews" all over it. To save time, he simply adopted the mispelling of his legit surname as his in-ring surname. Matt Mathews Category:1969 births